Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello and welcome back to Future You.
The podcast brought to youby graduate careers experts prospects.
I'm your host, Emily Slade,and in this episode
I chat to the University of Essex onlineabout their MSC in psychology.
My name is Dr Elle Boagand I'm the head of Psychology
at University of Essex online. Perfect.
(00:21):
So if you're able to tell usabout the course.
The course is wholly online
and it is to an extent modular,
so people can pick up,
modules at a time, but they have to bedone in a chronological order.
So with the Masters in Psychology program,
(00:42):
which at some pointwe would aim to be accredited with a B.
So we'regoing through that process at the moment.
This is a minimum of a two year course.
And roughly covers
a variety of psychological projects,and topics.
So it introduces people to psychologyand research methods.
(01:07):
It looks at developmentacross the lifespan, for humankind.
It looks at critical social psychology,advanced research methods
because researchmethods underpin all of psychology,
psychobiology and
neuroscience, psychologyskills and employability.
And they all culminates in a year
(01:28):
long psychology research project,which is empirical.
And primarily,we want people to use primary research
where they collect in their own data.
But on certain occasionsthis can be done secondarily.
So using secondary source says,but there has to be an empirical element
within it.
(01:50):
This can be quantitative or qualitative.
So you can look at statistics and numbersand do questionnaires.
Alternate tivityyou could do interviews or focus groups.
So or do something more qualitativeand use different types of analyzes.
But all of these thingsyou'll be introduced to because there's
no requirement to study psychology
(02:12):
at most this degreeto have a pre master's.
So to have a degree in psychology at all,which is why we start with principles
of psychology and psychological methodsand research methods.
Sorry.
So that we can get everybodyon the same sort of platform
as to the history on the constructswithin psychology itself.
(02:35):
Yeah, fantastic. That's brilliant.
So that leads nicely ontowho would suit the course.
Well, anybody really,
that,
I think that the
people who would be more interested in it
are those that have a personal,professional interest
(02:56):
in business psycho in business, psychologyor psychology in particular.
The course explores keypsychological theories that can be applied
to a real broad range of subject areas.
This may be at work.
It may be a home.
It may be in your family life.
Typically, people will use thisto support their career prospects
(03:20):
and or to go on to do further study.
So, people will learn how to increase
efficiency, communication,
understanding of how structurallywe fit together as a society.
Family units assess their own performanceand communication
(03:41):
as well as effectively be ableto motivate themselves and other course.
And throughout all of our programs,
we have quite a strong focuson employability
and this will be supported
in part, I suppose, by the researchfrom basic research methods
(04:01):
and statistics,because it helps you to build a portfolio
of skills that are transferableacross the workplace, across
society, across all sorts of domainsthat will eventually
and hopefully support further careerdevelopment.
Yeah, perfect.
So speaking of, what are the careerprospects following this course?
(04:24):
Well,
you can pretty much do anything.
I know it sounds quite glib to say that,
but psychology is the the scientific,
quasi scientific study of human
kind, human behavior motivations.
Why do we do what we do?
Why do other people do what they do?
(04:44):
Because we're all natural psychologiststo a degree.
And we want to know a little bitabout ourselves or people that we love,
or we want to understandwhy the world works the way that it works.
With that in mind,having a broad psychology postgraduate
degree will allow you the opportunity
to explore those those constructs
(05:08):
on a deeper level,and it will apply to any career.
So because this is not accreditedas of yet,
should it be accredited,you would qualify for GBC training.
Which means you could get graduatebased this for chartered ship
and train as a chartered psychologist.
But that's still in the pipelinecurrently.
(05:30):
As it stands, it isn't,but it does not prevent people
from going on and pursuing careers at workthat may have a psychological bent.
We know that a lot of the studentsthat we have, our international students
and lots of international studentsalready work full time anyway.
So this is a means of generating furthercareer prospects, going up the corporate
(05:55):
ladder, as it were, and applyingtheir understanding of human behavior.
Well, being and relationshipsas an a means of increasing
opportunities in natureand PR in a variety of different settings.
Perfect.
So in terms of the the course,what support is available for students?
(06:18):
Well, there's student support.
So you know,
everybody is allocated a student supportadvisor with the psychology background
on enrollment,
who they can contact,
when they have any queries, any questionsif they've got any pastoral
or academic concerns
and they'll be signposted onto disability advice
(06:38):
should they need some additional supportin terms of their mental health
and wellbeingor even their academic support,
they may need a support
summary in place they may have had onin a previous institution.
They may not even know that they need one,but it might be something
that might be worth being assessed.
Should they be falling behind orfor funding that a bit more challenging?
(07:01):
There's also study skills.
This is available to all studentsat University of Essex online.
And they are excellent sources of ensuringthat you are meeting
the the standards of writingthat are required.
Because as a psychology subject,we have formatting,
which is APA and it's quite stringent,it's quite strict.
(07:25):
And you are marked against it,
but there is plenty of resourcesavailable to support that.
There's also accessto the University of Essex online library.
So and this is the Universityof Essex Library but it's there online
resources, journals,
all sorts of blogs,all sorts of journal entries.
(07:46):
And there's peer support.
There's also WhatsApp groups,lots of students like a WhatsApp group
where they can study,collaborate closely together.
But we also run one assessmentat least one
assessment,and across the module, across the course.
That is a collaborative learning questionwhere you learn from one another,
you feed back to one another all the timeand it's something
(08:08):
that we certainly encourage. Perfect.
And you've briefly touched on it,but can we look at the learning,
teaching and assessmentmethods for the course? Yes.
So the learning is wholly online.
You would be in
be in your own place of work, homesomewhere quiet, hopefully.
(08:28):
Where you don't have dogs running pastall the time.
Very being very distracting.
But we do understand thatthe majority of our students also work
full time and or have family commitments.
So they're fitting studying inwith everybody, everything else
that they have to do.
So they are all of our lessons
are hosted on the virtuallearning environment or the Valley,
(08:52):
instead of traditional campuses,this means that you'll have access
to materials 24/7, 365 days a year.
And this includes thingssuch as multimedia, lecture casts.
And this is made up of written content,short videos, animations,
audio recordings, infographics,short tests, some mini assignments.
(09:15):
And these aren't like traditional lectureswhere you just talked up for an hour.
These are a combinationof all of these things
to keep your mind going,because we all know that the
the memory span and the mind isn't easyto occupy for long periods of time.
There's discussion forums for youto chat about your course with peers,
(09:36):
live seminar sessions.
There's question and answer sessions.
You could also help with your tutorials,with your tutors, on a 1 to 1 basis.
It may be that they offer an hourly
online question and answer session to,
Comprehensive Library, as I said,
which includes textbooks and academicjournals.
(09:59):
There's support from academic staffand the support
team, the assessments themselves.
There's no proctored exams.
There's no exams at all.
It's 100% coursework.
So everything will be done througha series of different types of assignment.
So this can be engaging in discussionforums in modules, completing
(10:21):
reflective journals,delivering online and presentations,
or by submitting longer piecessuch as essays or, research reports.
Importantly, we're committed to providingfrequent and transport
feedback in a number of ways.
So one of
as one of
(10:42):
the things that we focus on is ensuringthat our assessment criteria are designed
to be transparent and simple,
not simple in the way as,
you know, they're oversimplified,but they're easy to digest and understand.
If you don't if any questions do arise,
then students are always encouragedto talk to their tutors.
(11:03):
The students will always be awareof current
provisional gradesright from the start of the program.
So they know the grading criteria.
They know what the minimum requirementis to meet each of those benchmarks.
Students be able to view mathsclearly in their grade books
whenever they log on to the learningplatform.
(11:25):
There's a seven day turnaroundfor marking and feedback.
To assist work, which is very quick,
and there's regular contactwith the student support team
with whom you can,with whom you or the student
can discuss any concernsas soon as they arise.
And my advice to all students coming on tothe course is if you do have a concern
(11:48):
or you think you have a concern,just contact student support.
They're always there to listen.
As an online learning experience,
there's a number of materialsthat will be available as well.
So these are high quality, delivered
via the very on average,the learning experience
will include 40% directed learning,
(12:11):
which is including participation
in tutor led discussion and seminars,completing interactive
exercises on the weekly,and watching videos, lectures
and in that time also includes the abilityto book appointments
with module tutors during their officehours, which will be found on the.
(12:31):
They'll be very clear on your modulevehicles.
Self-directedlearning is 30% of the course.
So this means undertaking widerresearch and research
in the area of study to develop studentsunderstanding of the subject area.
And it's really importantthat this is engaged with because the more
(12:53):
you read, the more you know,the more you know, the better you do.
And then 35%, is assessmentand this is time spent preparing,
completing the assignments and activitiesthat contribute
towards the overall assessment grade.
So typically we suggest that
a minimum of 15 to 20 hours per module
(13:16):
per week is used for assessmentsand learning experience.
Yeah. Perfect. Thank you.
Is there anything elsethat you'd like to mention
about the course that we haven't covered?
Yes. Firstly the duration.
So it's
typically two years, but can be more
because it's modularand because we recognize that
(13:39):
the student body aren't necessarilywhat one would consider
to be traditional at homestudying full time.
And they do have lives that,
at times barriersto, to their learning journeys.
We understand that that might be longer,
but we say on averagesort of 2 to 3 years.
(14:01):
And so this is a guide and it's just arough guide for how long it will take.
But you know, notto not to overstretch yourself.
I think it may be shorter or longerdepending on your speed of study
and also and the options,
that are chosenduring the module activity.
(14:21):
The academic year is organizedinto modules
and there are five entry points per year.
So it runs on a carousel system.
You have also, if you should fail,you have another two opportunities
to resubmit work.
A cap to grade the academic staffare really core in this.
(14:45):
Now the tutors that we have areindependently employed tutors
and they are experts in their field.
So are all points you can be confidentas a student enrolling on the MSC, say
that you are being taughtby somebody who is a subject specialist
in that particular areaand domain of psychology.
(15:09):
So if you have questions, ask questions.
These are often tutors who are,researchers in the domain as well.
So they maywell talk about their own research.
They may talk about the researchmore globally.
I also encourage students to read research
from their home countries,should they not be from the UK,
(15:33):
and bring them to class for discussion,because we are very keen on ensuring that
courses have a global reach.
There is also lots of informationabout the key members of staff
on the University of Essex online,website.
And finally, I'd like to saythat the quality
(15:58):
assurance of the course is first rate.
I would say that because, Department.
But we follow QAstandards to the absolute letter.
We follow the benchmark statementsfor psychology.
To the letter.
And we also as much as we can
(16:18):
and certainly within the remitof not being an accredited course,
we still follow BP's guidelinesin terms of ethics, ethical
procedures, research methodsand the core content that we deliver.
Perfect. Brilliant. Thank you.
If any prospective studentshave questions,
can they reach out to you or is theresomeone that they should contact?
(16:41):
I would suggest in the first instance
to contact the admission team
if they have any specificquestions about the MSC,
psychology,
perhapsthey should reach out to the program team.
They can send me an email,lcbo@kaplan.com,
(17:02):
and I will signpost themto the most appropriate source,
of information,if I can't answer any of their questions,
because all the information you needis on the website
and it's all very freely available,including the most up to date fees.
There's also an alumni discountfor those who have studied
(17:23):
with us before or studyat the University of Essex.
Brilliant.
Thank you so, so much for your time today.
Thanks again to Elle for their time,for more information on the course.
You can check out the show notes below.
If you enjoyed the episode, do feel freeto leave us a review on Apple or Spotify.
Thank you, as always for listening andgood luck on your journey to future you.